My photographic adventures on the other side of the world

December 13, 2016

The hunt is on

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The first thing on my mind after recovering from illness was the hunt for new photo opportunities. When I personally think of Australia the first things that come to mind are the rugged landscapes and exotic animals and plant life. However, I want to stay creative and not just go for the obvious all of the time. So this week I’ve tried hard to find new photo opportunities in ordinary situations and tried something different with the gear I have at hand. It didn’t always work out, but I’m happy to have attempted something new.

This first image is a cat photo of a somewhat different kind. When I was playing with Evie I knew I could get her to slap at the play tube by simply rustling a toy against it and I knew it was this moment I wanted to capture. I got lucky with this one and managed to take this photo in the first minutes of trying. The dark outline of the paw and the somewhat more diffuse outline of head and body make it look like an attempt at communication despite the barrier.

I did not bring a macro lens with me, which is a bit of a shame, so I spent some time this week in the garden testing the close focusing capabilities of the lenses I did bring with me. All in all, I am pretty happy with the tests and I expect to post many more close up photos in the weeks to come. I quite like this shot for the way that the stamen appears to be pulling the closest petal towards it in order to cover up. Saucy!

I made a trip to the Botanic Garden this week for one last photo session with my niece and nephew and it was also good to do a bit of scouting for future visits. I learned an important lesson during this session. It really is something else working with children! I think this photo of my niece walking away from us really captures her character nicely.

I assisted with the removal of some decking during the week and took a break during the action to see if I could find any good photo motifs. I liked the patterns formed by these supporting beams, so got down close to the ground and tried to capture as many as I could in the frame. Unfortunately, I didn’t pay enough attention to the second repeating pattern left by the water marks and missed a trick here.

These last two photos represent something completely new for me – smartphone photography. I don’t like taking my camera stuff out when meeting with friends, but since we were going out to such a pretty part of the world I couldn’t simply let the opportunities get away from me. It still remains the case that the typical Aussie feels strongly bonded with nature and that is what I tried to portray here with the mainland well connected to the uninhabited Granite Island.

I was particularly lucky to be travelling around with a very understanding friend of mine who also has an interest in photography. This meant we spent the afternoon location scouting down south of Adelaide and I was able to collate a number of very promising ideas. This is one that is a little different from the typical landscapes you might expect from this part of the world. What do you think, should I pursue this one with my proper camera?